Beach sand cleaning device



May 8, 1956 J c EVANS ETAL 2,744,739

BEACH SAND CLEANING DEVICE Filed April 27, 1955 I N V EN TORS JOSEPH C. EVA/V5 'HflFD/N 5 WED/"ORE A TTORA/E'Yb' United States Patent BEACH SAND CLEANING DEVICE 105?!!! C. Evansand, Hardin S. Wedmore, Santa Cruz, Calm, assignors, by nresuei assignments, to Joseph C. Evans, Santa Cruz, Calif;

ApplieatiomApril-fl, 1953, SeriaLNo. 351,292,

s (cl. zszf-z) Thisdnvention relatestocleaning devices and particularlyidevices of the kind which are adapted to be used on beaches. for the. purpose of removing refuse suchas cigarettebutts, papers, sticks, cans, etc. from the sand.

Asxis. well known, beach. and other public play areas rapidly become-litteredwith trash and refuse in spite of the attempts: of' the governing authorities and owners of theareas. to provide suitable refuse containers. It does not. seem to ,bewithin. the capability orresponsibilityof the. public toac'areforsuch areas and" therefore it is necessarytoprovide some means for cleaning such beaches androtherareas.

Obviously? such a machine must preferably be one which-is'capable'of'being-"moved over a large area in a short space of time and which will remove, not only from the surface, but from a substantiallayer beneath the surface, all sortseof refuseh It is an object of this inventionto provide a mobile device of the character described which will clean the surface andupper layer of an area. as, for example, a beacharem to a distance of from four to six. inches in depth.

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17 and the chain 18 to cause the drum 12 to rotate about its longitudinal axis.

The speed of rotation of the drum 12 is not critical and wehave had good results by causing the same to rotate at a speed of approximately 40 revolutions per minute.

As indicated, particularly in- Figure 3, the drum 12 consists of pair of end plate members 21 which are suitably secured to axle 22 and adapted to be driven thereby. The end members also support'a number of'longitudinal blades 23 which are secured'to the end members in any suitable manneras, forexample, by welding. As indicated, particularly-in Figure '3, the blades 23 are formed in two parts, one part 23a which extends radially with respect to the drum 1-2 and the second part 23b which isofliset with respect to the section 23a and is inclined in the direction of rotation. A coaxially alined screen 24 is provided.

Tothe rear of the rotating drum 12 wehave provided a screen 26 which is pivotally supported at its rear end and which is supportedby means of springs 27 at its forward end which mayberaised or lowered. The forwardend'of the edge of-the screen 26 is provided with a flexible apron member 28 which is adjacent to but does not engage the leading edges of the blades 23. If the blade should bring a solid object into contact with the It is. an object of this invention to provide a device o f this,kind which, while it will displace substantially all ofl thesand' in that area or strata, will. not remove any quantity. ofjsand fromthe beach or other area.

:It, isQa further object of this invention to provide a device which, will" operate with a minimum number of employees, a minimum'expense for commodities such as gasoline and electricity, which will operate rapidly and effectively-and which, when not inuse,,may be stored in asso finesis r a s. po le.

Other objects and advantages of this invention will appear from the following specification taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a top plan view of a device incorporating our invention;

Figure 2 is a side elevation of the device illustrated in Figure 1; and

Figure 3 is an enlarged view taken along the line 3--3 of Figure 1.

As illustrated in Figures 1 and 2 our device is provided with a frame 10 which is supported at both ends by wheels 11.

The rear wheels are suitably supported as shown. However, the front wheels are preferably mounted on a king pin assembly to provide for their easy turning and manipulation and they too may be provided with a means for raising and lowering the frame with respect to the surface over which the frame is to be drawn; in this case, a sandy beach surface. The wheels 11 may be provided with suitable pneumatic tires.

Approximately mid-way between the two sets of wheels 11 I have provided a rotating drum 12, which is mounted on suitable bearings 13 and suspended from the frame 10. An engine'14 may also be mounted on the frame 10 and the engine 14 is adapted, through the sprockets 16 and apron member 28, the springs 27 will permit the screen 26- to be-moved downwardly until the solid object drops onto the sand. To therear of'the screen 26, we have provided a collecting basket 29 for a purpose hereinafter described; v

Operation of the-device may be briefly described as follows: The device is adapted to be drawn over an area to be cleaned. The drum 12 is rotated clockwise as viewed in Figure 1- and thecutting edges of the blades 23 dig into the sand, liftingthe sand and any trash there in. As the drum continues to-rotate some of the sand will tend to fall backwardly through the screen 24. Trash and other material which is of greater diameter than the gauge of-the screen 24 will be carried upwardly and. backwardly and bedeposited upon the screen 26. Any material which is of'smaller diameter than the mesh of the screen 26 will naturally pass through the screen 26 onto-the clean-surface. Any material such as waste material which is of greater'diameter than the mesh of the screen 26 will be retained by the screen 26 and will be collected by the collecting basket29 tobe ultimately carried away for suitabledisposition.

We claim:

1. In a device for separating refuse from the sand on a beach as the device is moved over the beach, a wheeled frame adapted for movement on the beach, a rotatable drum-like member journalled on said frame in a position such that the axis of the drum-like member is perpendicular to the line of movement of the wheeled frame, said drum-like member comprising a shaft journalled on said frame, a cylindrical screen coaxially aligned on said shaft, and a plurality of blades spaced circumferentially around the periphery of said screen, means for rotating said member in such a direction that the lower half of the member is moving in the same direction as the Wheeled frame, said blades having a length substantially equal to the length of said cylindrical screen and being inclined substantially in the direction of rotation of said drum-like member, the blades upon rotation of the drum-like member lifting a layer of sand and refuse from the beach, a substantial portion of the sand passing through the cylindrical screen and back upon the beach, additional sifting means mounted on said framework to the rear of said drum-like member, the additional sifting means being adapted to receive the sand and refuse discharged rearwardly from the drum-like membet, and collecting means mounted on said framework to the rear of said additional sifting means, said collecting means being adapted to receive the refuse as it passes from the additional sifting means.

2. A device as in claim 1 wherein the additional sifting means comprises a flat rectangular screen having its rearward end pivotally connected to the framework, and means for securing the forward end of the fiat screen to the framework, said last named means accommodating up and down movement of the forward end of the screen, the sifting screen being inclined downwardly to the rear whereby upon movement of the device the remaining sand will be sifted through the sifting screen and the refuse will pass into the collecting means.

3. In a device for separating refuse from the sand on a beach as the device is moved over the beach, a wheeled frame adapted for movement on the beach, a rotatable drum-like member mounted on said frame in a position such that its axis is perpendicular to the line of movement of the wheeled frame, said drum-like member comprising an axle journalled on said frame, a pair of end plates mounted on said axle, a cylindrical screen coaxially aligned on said axle and having its ends secured to said end plates, a plurality of blades spaced circumferentially around the outer periphery of the cylindrical screen, said blades having a length substantially equal to the length of the cylindrical screen and being inclined substantially in the direction of rotation of said drum-like member, means for rotating said drum-like member in such a direction that the lower half of the drum-like member is moving in the same direction as the frame, the blades upon rotation of the drum lifting a layer of sand and refuse from the beach, a substantial portion of the sand passing through the cylindrical screen and back upon the beach, additional sifting means mounted on said frame to the rear of said drum-like member, the additional sifting means being adapted to receive the remainder of the sand and refuse as it is discharged from the rear of the drum-like member, and collecting means mounted on said frame to the rear of said additional sifting means, said collecting means being adapted to receive the refuse as it is discharged from the additional sifting means.

4. A device as in claim 3 wherein the additional sifting means comprises a substantially flat rectangular screen having its rearward end pivotally connected to the frame, and resilient means for connecting the forward end of the sifting screen to the frame, the sifting screen being inclined downwardly to the rear whereby upon the movement of the vehicle the remaining sand will be sifted through the screen and the refuse will be discharged into the collecting means.

5. In a device for separating refuse from the sandon a beach as the device is moved over the beach, a wheeled frame adapted for movement on the beach, a rotatable drum-like member mounted on said frame in a position such that its axis is perpendicular to the line of movement of the wheeled frame, said drum-like member comprising a shaft having its ends journalled on said frame, a pair of end plates fixed on said shaft, a cylindrical screen coaxially aligned on said shaft and having its ends secured to said end plates, a plurality of blades spaced circumferentially around the outer periphery of the cylindrical screen and having their ends secured to said end plates, said blades being inclined substantially in the direction of rotation of said drum-like member, means for rotating said drum-like member in such a direction that the lower half of the drum-like member is moving in the same direction as the wheeled frame, the blades upon rotation of the drum-like member lifting a layer of sand and refuse from the beach, a substantial portion of the sand passing through the screen and back upon the beach, a sifting screen mounted to the rear of the drum-like member and having its rearward end pivotally connected to the frame, means for securing the forward end of the sifting screen to the frame, said last named means accommodating up and down movement of the forward end of the screen. the sifting screen being inclined downwardly to the rear and being adapted to receive the remaining sand and refuse as it is discharged from the rearward portion of the drum-like member, and collecting means mounted on said framework to the rear of said sifting-screen, the collecting means being adapted to receive the refuse discharged from the sifting screen.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 15,785 Smith Sept. 23, 1856 244,526 Barnett July 10, 1881 549,176 Will Nov. 5, 1895 871,862 Dunning Nov. 26, 1907 1,220,197 Cowles Mar. 27, 1917 1,633,126 Paynter June 21, 1927 1,743,833 Stall Jan. 14, 1930 2,284,035 Blair May 26, 1942 2,285,321 Zadermack June 2, 1942 2,564,563 Clank Aug. 14, 1951 FOREIGN PATENTS 142,811 Australia Apr. 28, 1949 687,820 Germany Feb. 7, 1940 

